Theology of the Body as a New Way of Understanding Human Experimentation
Jaroslaw Mikuczewski, SJ, Jesuit priest, PhD(c), Health Care Ethics, Saint Louis University
As part of his Wednesday audiences in 1979-84, John Paul II delivered catechesis on marriage, which became known as the "theology of the body." Pope repeatedly used that term during the meetings, with the teaching resource provided by a book Karol Wojtyła had written while still a cardinal and which he had not managed to publish because he was elected the Bishop of Rome.
Despite the fact the theology of the body is mainly applied to the reality of marriage, having an in-depth study of the human body can be a vital source of inspiration for the problem of medical experiments carried out on man. Particularly relevant here is the placement of the human being in a broader transcendent context. According to this vision, man is a bodily and spiritual being with his beginning, as well as fulfillment in transcendent reality. The body, unlike in Plato's view, is not a prison for the soul, nor, as Descartes would like it, an autonomous subject res extensa controlled by the immaterial res cogito. The bodily and spiritual oneness of man is the essential framework for the theology of the body.
In my presentation I will point out three key aspects of the John Pole’s II theology of the body can be a great help in the reflection upon the human experimentation. The first element is the idea of learning humans’ own identity and overcoming original loneliness by entering into a relationship whit another human being. Although medical experiments are associated with anonymous scientific centers and impersonal projects, we should bear in mind that there are always specific people behind them. The experiment is a little like a meeting, a relationship of two people, with both the experimenter and the person subject to the examination bringing an individual context to the encounter.
Second, it is the idea of selflessness of the gift. It is not only about its being free, its gratuitousness. The idea here is much more profound and touches upon the very essence of humanity. The moment in which I give myself to the other, also through participating in a medical experiment, by the understanding of man as a corporeal and spiritual oneness, I also offer my other transcendent dimension, which is not subject to immanent valuation.
Finally, there is the Christological aspect of human life. According to it, every Christian, through the act of being baptized, is mystically incorporated into the body of Jesus. This means that his gift of himself to others is, in a way, a gift of Jesus himself. Following this direction, in a natural, we will reach the reality of the Eucharist, which is a reminder of the salvific death of Jesus. Consequently, the liturgy, which describes the reality of the Eucharist can also be used to present a gift of one’s body, which is realized in the situation of an experiment on a human being. We have here the same component elements: there is a body sacrificed to heal another body.
Despite the fact the theology of the body is mainly applied to the reality of marriage, having an in-depth study of the human body can be a vital source of inspiration for the problem of medical experiments carried out on man. Particularly relevant here is the placement of the human being in a broader transcendent context. According to this vision, man is a bodily and spiritual being with his beginning, as well as fulfillment in transcendent reality. The body, unlike in Plato's view, is not a prison for the soul, nor, as Descartes would like it, an autonomous subject res extensa controlled by the immaterial res cogito. The bodily and spiritual oneness of man is the essential framework for the theology of the body.
In my presentation I will point out three key aspects of the John Pole’s II theology of the body can be a great help in the reflection upon the human experimentation. The first element is the idea of learning humans’ own identity and overcoming original loneliness by entering into a relationship whit another human being. Although medical experiments are associated with anonymous scientific centers and impersonal projects, we should bear in mind that there are always specific people behind them. The experiment is a little like a meeting, a relationship of two people, with both the experimenter and the person subject to the examination bringing an individual context to the encounter.
Second, it is the idea of selflessness of the gift. It is not only about its being free, its gratuitousness. The idea here is much more profound and touches upon the very essence of humanity. The moment in which I give myself to the other, also through participating in a medical experiment, by the understanding of man as a corporeal and spiritual oneness, I also offer my other transcendent dimension, which is not subject to immanent valuation.
Finally, there is the Christological aspect of human life. According to it, every Christian, through the act of being baptized, is mystically incorporated into the body of Jesus. This means that his gift of himself to others is, in a way, a gift of Jesus himself. Following this direction, in a natural, we will reach the reality of the Eucharist, which is a reminder of the salvific death of Jesus. Consequently, the liturgy, which describes the reality of the Eucharist can also be used to present a gift of one’s body, which is realized in the situation of an experiment on a human being. We have here the same component elements: there is a body sacrificed to heal another body.